Cottons

[RedDenver]

Ben has definitely earned his scholarship. He started every game last year and another game his Freshman year. He helped pave the way for at least two of Helu's long runs against Missouri, and I'm pretty sure he was involved in at least a couple of TMagic's runs as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Something nobody is saying, but I believe to be true, is that children of coaches must count towards scholarships. WhatDoIKnow is driving at this, but I believe the reason for this is that if they did not count against the limit, there'd be nothing stopping a coach from adopting a :star :star player or three and loading his team. I have no idea what the actual rule is, but I've had it explained to me that way in the past.

Watson's son was a walk-on...so this is not true.

But did he get the reduced tuition?

[74Hunter]

not only is Cotton a questionable coach, but nepotism is definitely at work here...it is what it is.

 

 

Because "you" say so?

 

Sorry, not convinced whatsoever.

Agree with you. We need negative reps back.

[74Hunter]

I could care less about how much Barney has to pay or not pay. My problem is that all three of his sons who are borderline D1 prospects have all been offered and accepted scholarships. The right thing for Barney to do would be to have his sons walk on and if they eventually earn scholarships then that's great and its a good story, but to me the situation is a joke and I have zero respect for Barney. Like it or not that's my opinion.

 

Don't get me started on this topic. I've put my two cents in on this topic in the recruiting forum, but I'll keep it simple here.

If anyone thinks that any of the Cotton boys would have been good enough to earn football scholorships to the University of Nebraska (especially in a year when schollys are at a premium)if their father wasn't a coach then they are a moron. Therefore they are wasted scholorships.

Having said that I respect the fact that they want to be Huskers and I hope they prove me wrong.

 

You, sir, are as clueless as one could be. Ben has been a contributor/starter soon after his redshirt season. Jake is pushing for serious playing time as a redshirt freshman after switching positions. Sam is supposed to be the best athlete of the bunch, and we NEED TEs, badly.

 

Did, in all of your wisdom, ever think that he is the highest rated TE on the COACHES' board (not Rivals or Scout) that would either 1) accept a scholly and 2) be academically eligible in a season when we have so few to give and 2 or 3 positions in dire need, TE being one of them?

 

Look at the big picture, and let your hatred of Barney go. He'll be here for at least another season or two.

[Danimal]

Ben has definitely earned his scholarship. He started every game last year and another game his Freshman year. He helped pave the way for at least two of Helu's long runs against Missouri, and I'm pretty sure he was involved in at least a couple of TMagic's runs as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Something nobody is saying, but I believe to be true, is that children of coaches must count towards scholarships. WhatDoIKnow is driving at this, but I believe the reason for this is that if they did not count against the limit, there'd be nothing stopping a coach from adopting a :star :star player or three and loading his team. I have no idea what the actual rule is, but I've had it explained to me that way in the past.

Watson's son was a walk-on...so this is not true.

 

 

This came-up over on rivals. Somebody said if you had a division-1 offer then you must be on schollie. Watson's kid didn't have any offers so he could walk-on.

[kchusker_chris]

Watson's son was a walk-on...so this is not true.

But did he get the reduced tuition?

Doesn't matter - Cotton wouldn't have gotten any reduced tuition had he walked on either. The thread is about Barney paying his full tuition (since the Cotton family has already received 250,000 in extra benefits from the university in the form of tuition for Ben/Jake) vs. a 3rd scholarship for the family. Considering we've already given scholarships to 2 of his kids, I'm confident the school would be in a very solid position to defend itself on this one had they decided to make Sam a walk-on - so since they didn't he must be pretty damn good or have a hell of a lot of potential to be.

 

This came-up over on rivals. Somebody said if you had a division-1 offer then you must be on schollie. Watson's kid didn't have any offers so he could walk-on.

I'm not sure I'd believe this since an offer is in no way binding. The only thing binding about the recruiting process is the signed LOI. Even a written offer is easily negated - so if this was true a school like Iowa could offer the top 50 Nebraska recruits every year just to ensure none of them could walk on at Nebraska. Doesn't mean they'd have to sign or "recruit" any of them.

 

Also, this means that every kid that chose to walk-on at Nebraska, over a scholarship offer from Kansas (i'm sure there have been some) or New Mexico State would be in violation of NCAA rules.

[Caven]

Watson's son was a walk-on...so this is not true.

But did he get the reduced tuition?

Doesn't matter - Cotton wouldn't have gotten any reduced tuition had he walked on either. The thread is about Barney paying his full tuition (since the Cotton family has already received 250,000 in extra benefits from the university in the form of tuition for Ben/Jake) vs. a 3rd scholarship for the family. Considering we've already given scholarships to 2 of his kids, I'm confident the school would be in a very solid position to defend itself on this one had they decided to make Sam a walk-on - so since they didn't he must be pretty damn good or have a hell of a lot of potential to be.

 

This came-up over on rivals. Somebody said if you had a division-1 offer then you must be on schollie. Watson's kid didn't have any offers so he could walk-on.

I'm not sure I'd believe this since an offer is in no way binding. The only thing binding about the recruiting process is the signed LOI. Even a written offer is easily negated - so if this was true a school like Iowa could offer the top 50 Nebraska recruits every year just to ensure none of them could walk on at Nebraska. Doesn't mean they'd have to sign or "recruit" any of them.

 

Also, this means that every kid that chose to walk-on at Nebraska, over a scholarship offer from Kansas (i'm sure there have been some) or New Mexico State would be in violation of NCAA rules.

 

His statement was in regards to coaches kids with D1 offers not being able to walk on. Normal, non-affiliated kids can do whatever they want as far as taking an offer or walking on.

[kchusker_chris]

^ I'd say he's prolly just making crap up to fit the situation. I don't know though. In the end it's probably the "perception" that would or wouldn't cause an "investigation". Each situation would be dealt with individually. If we were talking about the #2 ranked QB, with his 3 dozen offers and all of a sudden he walks on at NU, we're gonna get dinged...coaches son, son of a rich CEO, former NFL player - doesn't matter how he has the "means" to walk on, we're going to raise a lot of questions.

 

But a kid like Sam, with 2 brothers already on scholarship at the school, wasn't highly recruited, from a state that doesn't historically produce a lot of tallent...we'd be fine. I highly doubt there is some steadfast, written rule dealing specifically with coaches' kids and whether or not they have 1 or more D1 offers. What about other university employees? Why just coaches? Does it matter if it is a BCS school or Western Kentucky? FBS or FCS? I'd say a walk-on offer to Nebraksa is far better than a scholarship to Weber State. Should that force Sam away from the opportunity to walk-on and play with his 2 older brothers? I don't think so. Scholarship offers from 30% of BSC schools however? Yeah, he probably shouldn't be allowed to walk-on. But I doubt (mainly because it would have to be such a broad brush stroke) there is a rule saying he couldn't. There are numerous college football players whose parents have a hell of a lot more money than the Cotton's. They don't need their kids on scholarship either. But the schools don't want to raise the red flags.

[RedDenver]

I could care less about how much Barney has to pay or not pay. My problem is that all three of his sons who are borderline D1 prospects have all been offered and accepted scholarships. The right thing for Barney to do would be to have his sons walk on and if they eventually earn scholarships then that's great and its a good story, but to me the situation is a joke and I have zero respect for Barney. Like it or not that's my opinion.

 

Don't get me started on this topic. I've put my two cents in on this topic in the recruiting forum, but I'll keep it simple here.

If anyone thinks that any of the Cotton boys would have been good enough to earn football scholorships to the University of Nebraska (especially in a year when schollys are at a premium)if their father wasn't a coach then they are a moron. Therefore they are wasted scholorships.

Having said that I respect the fact that they want to be Huskers and I hope they prove me wrong.

 

You, sir, are as clueless as one could be. Ben has been a contributor/starter soon after his redshirt season. Jake is pushing for serious playing time as a redshirt freshman after switching positions. Sam is supposed to be the best athlete of the bunch, and we NEED TEs, badly.

 

Did, in all of your wisdom, ever think that he is the highest rated TE on the COACHES' board (not Rivals or Scout) that would either 1) accept a scholly and 2) be academically eligible in a season when we have so few to give and 2 or 3 positions in dire need, TE being one of them?

 

Look at the big picture, and let your hatred of Barney go. He'll be here for at least another season or two.

74Husker hits the main points well. Sam Cotton is a good addition as a scholarship player, IMO. I think a lot of posters are letting their feelings about Barney as a coach cloud their judgment about Sam as a player.

[kchusker_chris]

I think a lot of posters are letting their feelings about Barney as a coach cloud their judgment about Sam as a player.

or it might make it THAT much harder to fire Cotton.

 

(this is PURELY hypothetical) - but lets say the O-Line is crap again this year (that's more likely than the next part) and Jake steps up the be a solid #2 or even starts a game or two on that line. Ben is a dominant blocking TE with another year left. Dad gets fired. Now, we've got 2 kids that aren't really thrilled w/ the program who are a big piece of the puzzle, and a TE that quickly decommits leaving us scrambling for another TE late in the recruiting process (for the THIRD year in a row).

 

That was a stretch I know - but I'm tired of talking about Sam, so throught I'd change the angle.

 

As for Sam, I have no problem w/ it. The guy is a TE - who will 99% (unless his father gets canned) sign. That's more than we can say for the last couple of years. Our roster is getting VERY thin at TE. After next year there is little. If you look at the list of TEs on rivals...almost all of the higher ranked guys are committed. AND - if it's anything like Sterup last year...Rivals will pay a little more attention to him and realize he's pretty dominant, bump him to a high 3 star, or low 4 star and Huskerland will once again be a happy place.

[zoogs]

I actually thought Sam was looked at for DE.

 

In any case our TE recruiting, a potential bright spot seemingly as recently as weeks ago, has turned out to be in a bit of a trouble spot. But this early, I would not worry too much.

[flatwaterfan]

To the guy that said I'm bashing the Cotton kids, Ben Cotton was definately a scholarship tight end, if BO doesn't hire Barney, He's playing elsewhere. By the way, I really doubt if Ben plays any pro ball, but he's the most legit of the 3. I have found out since i started this thread that you really do get a huge dicount on tuition if your folks work for a college, pretty much next to nothing, even at a small college. Not sure if NCAA issues are involved here, but what about some poor kid that really NEEDS his tuition to be paid or he never gets a chance at college? I'm not bashing the Cotton kids at all, but if their daddy didn't work for the athletic department, they get no offer from BIG RED, period!! If anything, I'm bashing their daddy.

 

I will retract the bashing comment as that may have been a little strong. I agree it's great to see kids get offer who really need the financial help but that doesn't come into play here from Pelini's perspective. The fact that their Dad works for the athletic department doesn't come into play with the offer either IMO.

 

To me this is what runs through my mind.

 

1) Who's left on the board at that position?

2) How does he fit in?

3) Is he going to make grades?

4) Is he going to work?

5) Will he keep developing?

6) Is he going to cause problems?

7) I love the cute chicks on campus.

8) Will he be happy at the U.

9) How are his hands?

10) How are his measurables?

11) What's his blocking like?

 

So basically, I think when it comes down to it, the offer was made because of who was left on their TE board and what they think they will be getting. Knowing what they are getting out of the first 2 probably helped the third.

When I watched video of Ott and Cotton, I thought they were pretty close. I thought that Ott looked a little stiff but seemed more physical. He might be a hair faster. The thing I noticed about Cotton was his feet. I thought Cotton had good feet. It sounds like the coaches projected Ott to defense though so that probably why Cotton got an offer and Ott didn't. The recruiting board at RE looks pretty good right now if I had to guess. TE is a huge need and they needed to get one on board. It's nice to have a name penciled their now. Would like to get Orlando to as he would be a Hback type.

[Danimal]

I actually thought Sam was looked at for DE.

 

In any case our TE recruiting, a potential bright spot seemingly as recently as weeks ago, has turned out to be in a bit of a trouble spot. But this early, I would not worry too much.

 

I agree with Sam ending-up at DE. I think we add another TE-recruit this class.